Though John Mansholt is entering his 18th year as the Jacksonville High School girls’ soccer head coach, he is just now exploring the opportunity to share his knowledge about running an agribusiness with students at JHS. After growing up on a farm (with a mother who “still reminds him how they wasted nothing on the farm”) and running a grounds maintenance and landscaping business, Mansholt decided to become an agriculture teacher in 2010. Mansholt said that besides becoming an agriculture teacher, he also took many horticulture classes at the U of I Extension office in Jacksonville. What Mansholt loves most about Jacksonville High School is “being able to share his experience in horticulture, greenhouse production, nursery production and landscape design and maintenance as well as the interaction with the faculty, staff and students.” When asked about his landscaping business, Mr. Mansholt states, “My favorite part of owning a landscaping business was the sense of completion and satisfaction on a project. When we finished, no matter the size of the project or job, I enjoyed walking through the property and saying, ‘Yeah, we did that.’ The icing on the cake was when a customer would come home and have a huge smile, completely satisfied with our work.” Mr. Mansholt is a proud example of what the backbone of agriculture is made of, and we are glad to have him as a teacher.